Christians - how genuine is the Bible?

Question

Does it bother you that the Bible has been altered so much, and translated so many times that some of its meaning may have been lost? Is that a genuine answer to this question (other than blind faith?) - This is a genuine question, and I mean no offence, I'm simply interested in how rational people can blindly follow information that has been dated by time and translation.

Answer 1

The bigger question you should ask yourself is; who wrote the bible? After you have done some research and read some really good books about the subject, you will realize that the book was not written by some god, but rather ancient priests/men who had selfish goals of controlling their people. You can't be rational and believe in religion. You have to completely give up reason to have faith. Otherwise how can silly stories like that of Adam and eve, an apple tree and a talking snake make sense to anyone? How about that of a god who constantly leads his chosen people to war against his unchosen ones, comanding them to murder everyone except in some cases to save the virgins for themselves - Numbers 31:18. You also have to question the sanity of a god who murders his own children a la great flood. Let's say this story is true, apart from Noah, does the Bible really expect me to believe that all the children and elderly and the animals were sinful. But then with more research you will find out that that story was a babylonian myth written well before the bible. Most people believe in the bible because they haven't taken time to read it. The bible read rationally is its worst enemy. The story of a god who created the universe with all its billions of galaxies and stars floating through gravity, has no better way of saving the world than sending his son to be murdered by the Romans!! What's it about human and animal blood that this god is so fond of? I mean this god of the universe sometimes would come down to smell noah's animal sacrifice and was pleased with the smell. Come on folks, wake up, this is the 21st century. We don't care about the sabath or anything like that. Women are equal to men. And slavery is wrong despite moses's laws; read this one : exodus 21: 20-21

Answer 2

I am a Christian and I do understand your concern.

A couple things:

You say "other than blind faith". Faith is an impotant component of Christianity, so I would say that Faith plays an important part in believing that the Bible is the word of God. I do not have BLIND faith, however, as I thought long and hard before I became a Christian. I looked at my life without God (it sucked) and my life with God (beautiful, meaningful, full of love) and the fact that my prayers were always answered (in one way or another) and decided based on these and many other things to have faith in God and the Bible.

Also, I find it amazing that after all these centuries, the Bible is the number one best selling book in the world and has been every year since they started tracking all this. If it was a fraud, and God was not behind this, that could not have happened!

As for the translations, you do have to be careful. Most translations of the Bible have been researched as to the the original language, the context of words during Bible times versus words during our times, etc. Not all translations are trustworthy however and Christians should look into the various translations and ensure that they are using a reliable one.

Bottom line though, it is faith, not blind faith, that is why I trust in the Bible.

Thanks for asking a genuine question!!! Quite rare on Y!A. . .

Answer 3

Well first off, this is a great question.

Secondly, if you are going to ask this type of question of the Bible, you must also remember that this sort of inquiry should apply to all religions where the belief is passed down through history...especially the one's that do not have a book or any sort of 'hard' copy of it.

This not only goes for religions; think about our history textbooks. Most of the history we know comes from ancient writings that have been passed down through the ages or diciphered by today's linguists. Who's to say those are correct? And should we question their authenticity?

The Bible though is the single-most recorded book in history and is said to be at the very least 99.7% accurate to it's original documents by historians. I don't have the sources onhand to put in here right now, but I will look for them and post them if I can find them.

Also, when monks were copying these books by hand everything HAD to be perfect or they had to start over. It was a very, very precise practice. And with the Bible being the single-most important book in their lives, I would imagine they would be very meticulous about the accuracy.

Now there are a bunch of different versions of the bible out there like King James, New American Standard New International, New King James, etc. etc. and they are written in different styles. What I mean by that is that the King James, New King James, and New American Standard are all taken word for word from the Hebrew (language of the Old Testament) and the Greek (language of the New Testament), while the other versions are usually worded to emphasize the meaning o fthe scripture. So, for anyone really studying the Bible, you should ALWAYS go back to the word for word translation and even to the Greek, Hebrew, and Vulgate (Latin translation) to find what the word means.

I hope this wasn't too confusing, preachy, or long ;) But mostly I hope that it helps.

Answer 4

If the Bible is simply a compilation of books written by men you have a valid point. However, we must look a little deeper than that to determine if it can be accurate or not. Those who follow the Bible out of credulity (blindly following something or someone with no evidence to support it / their claim) may come to a conclusion similar to yours. But, if you take the time to gather the evidence to see if the Bible is accurate or not then you can develop true faith (basic or fundamental knowledge and acquaintance with relative evidence as well as heartfelt appreciation for what that evidence indicates)

For example: The Dead Sea scrolls show that the writings from which the Bible we have today was likely translated remained unchanged for hundreds of years with only minor differences in the texts that would not affect meaning. In any other writings that span that length of time and have been copied and recopied the text is significantly changed. Why is the Bible different? The Bible itself gives us the answer. 2 Tim 3:16 tells us that the Bible is "inspired" by God himself and as such would be protected by Him so that the original message He wants us to receive would remain intact. There are many other things both in the Bible and in secular history that support this. All it takes is a little effort to find out what the truth is.

Answer 5

This is a common misconception. Some people think that the Bible was written in one language, translated to another language, then translated into yet another and so on until it was finally translated into the English. The complaint is that since it was rewritten so many times in different languages throughout history, it must have become corrupted . The "telephone" analogy is often used as an illustration. It goes like this. One person tells another person a sentence who then tells another person, who tells yet another, and so on and so on until the last person hears a sentence that has little or nothing to do with the original one. The only problem with this analogy is that it doesn't fit the Bible at all.
The fact is that the Bible has not been rewritten. Take the New Testament, for example. The disciples of Jesus wrote the New Testament in Greek and though we do not have the original documents, we do have around 6,000 copies of the Greek manuscripts that were made very close to the time of the originals. These various manuscripts, or copies, agree with each other to almost 100 percent accuracy. Statistically, the New Testament is 99.5% textually pure. That means that there is only 1/2 of 1% of of all the copies that do not agree with each other perfectly. But, if you take that 1/2 of 1% and examine it, you find that the majority of the "problems" are nothing more than spelling errors and very minor word alterations. For example, instead of saying Jesus, a variation might be "Jesus Christ." So the actual amount of textual variation of any concern is extremely low. Therefore, we can say that we have a remarkably accurate compilation of the original documents.
So when that we translate the Bible, we do not translate from a translation of a translation of a translation. We translate from the original language into our language. It is a one step process and not a series of steps that can lead to corruption. It is one translation step from the original to the English or to whatever language a person needs to read it in. So we translate into Spanish from the same Greek and Hebrew manuscripts. Likewise we translate into the German from those same Greek and Hebrew manuscripts as well. This is how it is done for each and every language we translate the Bible into. We do not translate from the original languages to the English, to the Spanish, and then to the German. It is from the original languages to the English, or into the Spanish, or into the German. Therefore, the translations are very accurate and trustworthy in regards to what the Bible originally said.


Go to this link for more on this:

http://www.carm.org/questions/rewritten.htm

Answer 6

The Bible's accuracy and reliability have been proved and verified over and over again by archaeological finds produced by both believing and no believing scholars and scientists. This included verification for numerous customs, places, names, and events mentioned in the Bible.
One among many examples is the fact that for many years the existence of the Hittites (a powerful people who lived during the time of Abraham) was questioned because no archaeological digs had uncovered anything about them. Critics claimed the Hittites were pure myth. But today the critics are silenced. Abundant archaeological evidence for the existence of the Hittites during the time of Abraham has been uncovered.
Bible scholar Donald J. Wiseman notes, "The geography of Bible lands and visible remains of antiquity were gradually recorded until today more than 23,000 sites within this region and dating to Old Testament times, in their broadest sense, have been located." Nelson Glueck, a specialist in ancient literature, did an exhaustive study and concluded: "It can be stated categorically that no archaeological discovery has ever controverter a biblical reference." Well-known scholar William F. Albright, following a comprehensive studies, wrote: "Discovery after discovery has established the accuracy of innumerable details, and has brought increased recognition of the value of the Bible as a source of History."

There are more than 24,000 partial and complete manuscript copies of the New Testament. These manuscript copies are very ancient and they are available for inspection NOW. there are also some 86,000 quotations from the early church fathers and several thousand lectionaries (church-service books containing Scripture quotations used in the early centuries of Christianity). In fact, there are enough quotations from the early church fathers that even if we did not have a single copy of the Bible, scholars could still reconstruct all but 11 verses of the entire New Testament from material written within 150 to 200 years from the time of Christ. Bottom line: The New Testament has an overwhelming amount of evidence supporting its reliability.

Answer 7

I think that the bible has not been proven false for centuries.The bible has changed lives and hearts.There has been many archaeological discoveries that proved some of the bible periods of history. It is true that the Bible has been written so many times.I think the most reliable source is the king james version .I don't see any harm in using the niv bible as refrence guide for understanding.You have to be careful about the newer versions. I believe that some people are trying to makea non-gender bible.Some people want to leave out verses that address the issues of homosexuality .I know that anyone who alters the word of God will be in big trouble.In revelation chp 22 verse 18-19 says For i testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book:If anyone adds to these things,God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book. and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of prophecy,God shall take away his part from the book of life ,from the holy city, from the things which are written in this book. So i think it is so important that people who write the words of God that it is accurate. So I know the men who write the word of God know how important that is.When the bible was written it was God inspired but written by men .The dead sea scrolls were discovered in 1947 .Which has not contridicted the bible.Anyway believe what you wish but this truth has not changed .Jesus is the son of God he died on the cross for our sins and gave a free gift which is salvation .So we would not die in our sins but have everlasting life.I feel sorry for those who don't believe in God .I would rather be right than dead wrong.

Answer 8

Yes, there are some people who have changed and mis-translated the Bible. That does not invalidate the Word of God but only invalidates those groups that use those altered Bibles.

The Catholic Church has preserved and protected the Written Word of God (Sacred Scripture) since the day they were created. Therefore, the Catholic Church provides the Bible in the way it was written.

Oh, and BTW the King James Version is not the "original Bible".

Answer 9

Translators can have problems - same as when Quran is
translated. Eg
Isaiah 53: 5
This is a small part of a prophecy about a 'servant of God' figure that christians regard to be about Jesus as it talks about someone offering themself as a sacrifice for 'the sins of many', taking the punishment of others.
"He was bruised for our iniquities,
the chastisement for our peace was upon him."
The word peace is the hebrew word shalom. This means
peace well-being and welfare, roughly, but you'd have to be an language expert to pick up all the connotations. The strongest sense is 'peace', therefore it is translated in most versions as 'peace'.

It is interesting that new believers eg Acts 2, received the Holy
Spirit as a gift to validate that the salvation message given them
was true, in spite of claims of it not being the true message
(at that time by Jewish religious leaders).
The Holy Spirit is still given to believers! I didnt know Him
before I believed. God wouldnt give Himself in response
to a faulty message. NB. Islam knows nothing of the Holy Spirit,
and muslim commentators seem to get things totally wrong and
think he is an angel or Mohammad. When you believe in Jesus
you'll know that is completely deceived.

Answer 10

I think it is possible to believe the Bible only if you want to believe it. I could go into a lengthy defence of it which I'm sure would not have the slightest effect on you if you have already decided that it just can't be true. One of the hardest things for us as thinking human beings is to keep an open mind and to admit the possibility that the beliefs which we have may not be right or the beleifs which we don't hold may in fact be truth. Could i suggest reading the bible with an open mind - even if you don't beleive in prayer ask God to make it real to you if he exists!! See what happens.